Nintendo celebrates Zelda's 25th with...online activities.

Ok, so that's not entirely true. There were those pretty sweet orchestral concerts. However Nintendo's next step in the Zelda 25th Anniversary celebration is a little underwhelming. You can go to the 25th anniversary section of the Zelda website to share your love of the series with other fans, browse an interactive history of the series and check out a video of the concert. DSi owners can also submit animations on Flipnote Studio, which will then be reviewed by the powers-that-be and posted on the Zelda site. Incidentally it's kind of strange that Flipnote isn't on 3DS yet. It's a cool free download on DSi, and you'd think Nintendo would be doing everything in its power to get people to buy the 3DS. I guess it's part of that "unified online store" thing Nintendo has difficulty grasping.

I know we've gotten an Ocarina remake, which is pretty great, and we'll have Skyward Sword before the end of the year, but I was hoping for a limited edition Zelda collection, bundling all the 8 and 16-bit classics together with the N64 games, Windwaker and Twilight Princess, all in a collectible display case. Now that's something I'd pay good money for. As Nintendo's flagship franchise Zelda deserves no less.

Oh well. Here's hoping Nintendo does something bigger next year for the 25th anniversary of Metroid's American release. Mario's 25th was ho-hum, Zelda's is a little tepid, maybe third time's the charm.

Nintendo Announces New Online Activities for 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The 25th anniversary celebration of The Legend of Zelda™ continues with the launch of a new website and a creative challenge for fans of the iconic Nintendo series. For 25 years The Legend of Zelda has chronicled the adventures of heroic Link™ and Princess Zelda™. Now fans can share their passion for the series and document its history with a new 25th anniversary website at http://www.zelda.com/25th. The anniversary website includes an interactive history of The Legend of Zelda, as well as a video featuring an orchestra performing music from the series at the 2011 E3 Expo.

Starting today through Sept. 9, Nintendo DSi™ or Nintendo DSi XL™ owners are also invited to create their own flipnotes, or short animations, inspired by The Legend of Zelda series. Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL owners can use one of three flipnote templates with music from The Legend of Zelda series, then complete and upload their creations via the Flipnote Studio application. Flipnote Studio is available as a free download from the Nintendo DSiWare™ service, and also comes pre-installed on select Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL hardware. Fans can also submit a paper entry by mail. The best Zelda-themed flipnotes will be evaluated by key Nintendo developers who have worked on the series – including Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi – and posted for fans to enjoy on the http://www.zelda.com/25th website, the Nintendo Channel on the Wii™ console and Flipnote Hatena on Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL systems. For official rules, visit http://www.zelda.com/25th/flipnote.

Nintendo’s 25th anniversary celebration also includes the recent launch of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D game for the Nintendo 3DS™ system, which lets players explore a vastly upgraded classic game in full 3D without the need for special glasses. Later this year, Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword for the Wii system. In September, Nintendo is offering the multiplayer fun of The Legend of Zelda™: Four Swords as a free gift to fans. Fans can download a Nintendo DSiWare version of the game using their Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL systems, or by accessing the Nintendo eShop with a Nintendo 3DS system (wireless broadband Internet access required for download).

For more information about the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, visit http://www.zelda.com/25th.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.7 billion video games and more than 600 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.